This paper examines the questions of whether or not previous knowledge of Spanish (oral and/or written) interferes with an English as a second language (ESL) student's acquisition of English reading skills, which skills are affected, and what classroom techniques are successful in dealing with it. Two contrasting views of reading are examined: emphasis on oral reading skills and on reading for meaning. A review of the current literature includes: (1) tables illustrating sociolinguistic differences between Black English speakers and Spanish-speaking ESL students, (2) conclusions based on current literature and the author's experiences, and (3) Spanish vs. English sound/symbol relationships. Problems that are identified with the current literature are the undefined use of the terms"bilingual" and "bilingualism," the nonlinguistic use of the term "interference," failure to distinguish between interference and insufficient knowledge of English, and misinterpretations of sources. "Do's" and "don'ts" for teaching ESL reading to native speakers of Spanish and a bibliography are included. (Author/SW)